Destinys slave
by panatlantic
Summary: Usagi starts questioning her role and the sailor scouts motives in the furure (eventually... maybe not this chapter...)
1. Default Chapter Title

"Andrew... how come you're so nice to me...? I mean... you know... its not like you have to be or anything...," asked Serena, absently stirring her straw through her coke float.   
Andrew looked up from the counter he was cleaning, smiling shyly he replied, "You guys are always nice to me Sere, I mean sure, Rei can be a little loud sometimes and Mina cheats on the sailor v game, but you guys are good for business" he gestured wryly to a couple of 12 year old boys who were arguing over who would be the first to ask an oblivious Lita out. Having seen the photos, Serena was pretty sure neither of them in any way resembled any of Litas old boyfriends, and couldn't help grinning at the implication. "Thanks Andy, you always know how to make me feel better." "Any time sere."   
Almost absently Serena took a second straw, broke the paper off the end and puffed, the paper projectile, actually managed to ricochet twice (quite a feat considering the non-elastic properties of paper) before hitting Rei in the back of the head. "SERENAAAAAA!!!" Andrew sweatdropped as two blonde pigtails disappeared out the arcade door.  
  
Amy smiled as Serena disappeared out the door before Rei had even registered the hit, she couldn't help but think if sailor moon moved that fast Rei wouldn't have nearly as much need to complain about her performance, but Amy was just glad to see Serena back to her old self, she'd been a bit down lately (another messy breakup with Darien... at this point in time a regular occurrence...). She sent a silent look of thanks to Andrew who just winked and continued cleaning.  
As if by just thinking about him had summoned him Darien walked through the door, his eye locked briefly on Mina and one other blonde girl but neither had the twin odango he'd sought out unconsciously. A barely concealed sigh of...what? Relief? Disappointment...? Passed his lips as he sat at the counter "What'll you have, Dar?" Andrew asked pointedly. "Uh... just a coffee." *have to now* he conceded, noticing Serenas friends in their usual booth. Absently he noticed the seat was warm and looked around at Andrew prepping the coffee, seeing the half drunk coke and barely touched sundae, he exclaimed "oh geez, is someone sitting here? I'll move..." "Naw, it's O.K. Serena just left, I'll clean up in a sec" "That meatball head? It's not like her to leave food." Even as he said it he could feel four pairs of eyes burning into his back. He'd be damned if he let them know it bothered him.   
  
Amy frowned even more, which wasn't something anyone really noticed since the difference between Amy's 'regular' frown and her 'even-more' frown was imperceptible to the naked human eye. "Of all the nerve..." Rei exclaimed in that over loud whisper only mikos can master "it might be true, but he didn't have to say it".  
Amy looked back at her laptop and pretended to be engrossed (her usual response to anything she wasn't comfortable with... even if she did agree) while Lita joined the onslaught "Yeah! Why does he even come here at all if he's trying to avoid her? Stupid jerk."  
Having run out of quarters Mina sat opposite Lita, ""Maybe he's still in love with Serena and came to see her...?" *sigh*  
"Maybe he just came to talk to Andrew? I mean, they were friends before we ever met him and..."  
"Oh Amy! That's not romantic at all..."  
"Oh right Mina, and I guess the way he just keeps dumping her and breaking her heart like that is the way he shows his love..."  
"Uhm..."  
  
Serena was half way across Juuban before she realized Rei wasn't on her heels. With a screech and a puff of evaporating rubber sole (as only Japanese shoes - the kind that are made in china can produce) she pulled out of her sprint and realized she'd left her school bag (which normally wouldn't bother her... 'homework' was almost as foreign to Serenas vocab as 'study', but that assignment miss H gave them a fortnight ago was due yesterday and she figured she should at least know what it was supposed to be about for when she was interrogated tomorrow). With adrenaline now at a low she began to trudge back to the arcade.  
  
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Chugging his coffee (not easy with hot liquids - unless you've conditioned yourself to a life of caffeine dependence) in an attempt to escape the virulent glares as soon as possible Darien smacked his mug down of the counter in record times.   
"Hey Serena, back so soon?" Announced Andrew knowing his 'friend' had his back to the door. Andrew might not approve of the way his friend had treated the girl, but he was fiercely loyal to his friend and thought he deserved the warning. In fact Andrew had been less than impressed when he first found out his 20 year old friend was dating the 15 year old, but softened when he saw what he believed was genuine affection from both parties. For a while he had considered banning Darien (friendship be damned) in fear that business would suffer if it was rumored that a 'paedophile' was frequenting the arcade, but this way at least he could keep an eye on the couple, and then business had actually increased when the handsome college student became single again... and since he hadn't tried to hit on any other girls (despite their obvious attempts to get him to try) he let it pass - for now.  
"Oh, hey Andrew I left my bag here and you know what miss H is like so I gotta..." Serena paused miss sentence recognizing the rigid back and head that didn't even deign to recognize her presence. Fine. If that's the way it had to be "Uhm.. hey, my sundae is still here!! You're the greatest Andrew." "I thought you'd be back sere." "Thanks Andrew!!!" Gingerly she reached across the silent figure and pulled away the bowl of half melted icecream "oh... uh.. hi Darien" ignored she turned to join her friends at their booth, walking with deliberate care (this was definitely not the time to trip).  
Wordlessly Darien stood and walked out. Lita was the first to break the silence mere seconds after the twinkle of the bell on the door closing sounded. "Way to go Serena!!"  
"Yeah Serena, you handled that pretty well, you know, for you..."  
"Gee. Thanks Mina."  
"Hmpf. Glad to see you're finally coming round, meatball head."  
"Rei!!"  
"It's okay Amy, I had to get over it.. him... sometime, ne?"  
"Hey Serena, I made you a new one, your other one was kinda melted and all..." Broke in Andrew, in that silent supporting way he had of just being there.  
"Wow!! Thanks Andrew!!"  
"Well, that was a pretty impressive shot before..."  
"SERENNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
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"Well if you ask me, it's your own fault Serena."  
"I didn't ask you Luna." Replied Serena, dabbing her handkerchief at the icecream stain on the front of her uniform as she walked home. "Moms gonna kill me."  
"Come on Serena, you have a spare uniform, and besides, I'm sure your mother expects this kind of thing by now, your always coming home messy."  
"Geez, thanks for your support... but Rei still didn't have to get that mad."  
"Oh Serena..."  
"Oh No!! I forgot!!" Screeched Serena going up a few octaves in panic.  
"What?!? An emergency?!?!? A Scout meeting?!?!"  
"No! I was gonna yell at Mina for not telling me she knew how to cheat at the sailor V game"  
"Serena!!" complained Luna recovering from her latest heart attack, "can't you just yell at her tomorrow?"  
'...but I'll probably have detention tomorrow' Serena thought, absently wondering how she'd managed to get off without it today.   
  
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'Must... do... assignment... must... stay... awake' "...ZZZZZ"  
Luna twitched slightly through the hypnotic haze of Serenas rhythmic breathing before getting up and answering the communicator that was giving the all-call signal.  
"Luna? This is Amy! daimon in the park, we need Sailor Moon!" Luna nodded once and tended to the task of waking Serena, perhaps the least appreciated yet most rigorous of her duties.  
"Serena!! SERENA!!! Wake up!! The Senshi need you!!"  
"Jusht le' me shleep five more mints Lunaaa..."  
"NOW SERENA!!"  
"Okay! Okay!! I'm up... what is it...?"  
"It's a daimon, you need to transform and get to the park right away!!"  
Serena powered up and proceeded to follow Luna (after all, Luna hadn't specified WHICH park... and she was almost sure Japan had more than one...) hoping that neither her parents, Sammy or their neighbors would notice sailor moon leaping from her window.  
  
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"SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!!!!!!!!!!" ..no effect... not surprising really since the daimon had remembered to wear a raincoat... or maybe the daimon *was* a raincoat... it was hard to tell sometimes. Whatever it was their attacks had left no mark. Mercury took out her computer, scanning the (loosely termed) lifeform for weaknesses.  
"DEEP SUBMERGIE!!!" Another failed water attack... Mercury Sweat dropped at the assumption on Neptune's part that *her* attack would succeed where mercurys had failed.  
"Mars!! maybe you can melt that thing..."  
But not before Jupiter had wasted an attack on the insulated daimon. "SPARKLINGU WIDEU PRESSURE!!!!!!!!" No effect.  
"I'm on it Ames!! BURNING MANDELA!!!" Again the attack failed, this time accompanied by mercury's gasp as the daimon laughed, for the first time preparing to take the offensive, it produced an umbrella and reflected the attack at the scouts, whose timely screams drowned out the arrival speech of a certain pretty sailor suited Senshi of love and justice."  
"Grrr... you think this stuff just comes to me naturally?!?! (and trust me, with the infinite number of daimon possibilities, there were a lot of speeches to be written) You're gonna pay, nega-trash"  
"But I'm not from the nega-verse, I'm one of the..."  
"Shut Up !!" screeched Sailor moon, not wanting to be corrected right now. "MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!!!!"  
"Wrong attack moron!" shouted Rei... but refrained from saying more as the daimon's umbrella reflected the healing onto the recently maimed scouts.  
"Way to go Sailor Moon!!" Cheered Lita and Mina, genuinely impressed at Serena, but still not entirely convinced she hadn't, as Rei put it, used the wrong attack.  
"heh, thanks guys! uhm... little help here...?"  
Meanwhile Uranus had been studying the pure heart crystal. Nope. No talismans here. returning the heart crystal she casually walked up behind the daimon and smacked it in the head with a conveniently placed length of hard wood. the daimon crumpled and Sailor Moon was able to quickly finish it with a genuine attack, reverting it to its natural form of... a cocktail umbrella? Sometimes she wondered what was going through the mind of the person whom created the daimon to chose such ridiculous forms. Perhaps she would be wondering instead what they'd been drinking. Sometime between then and now Uranus and Neptune had disappeared.  
"Well guys, I guess that's that... love to stay and chat but I gotta get home and study... heheh.."  
"Not so fast Serena! what the hell took you so long to get here?" Demanded Rei.  
"Well Serena does live further away than any of u... " began Mercury.  
But Rei wasn't about to be put off so easily when she'd been so humiliated... after all it had been her reflected attack that had hurt the Senshi, not the actual diamon.  
"And she didn't even klutz up or anything!" Said Minako in a genuinely proud yet backhanded way. "hey! do you think my attack might have worked against it...?"  
"Uh... really gotta go now guys..."  
"Yeah right, as if you ever study meatball head" Rei added vindictively, thinking the name would hurt Serena.  
"oh shut up Rei" Serena replied turning her back on the scouts and starting to walk away.  
"Hey! I'm not finished! Don't you walk away from me Serena!! SERENA!!"  
"Uh... Mars...? do you really think you should be yelling out sailor Moons real identity like that...?"   
  
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Sailor Moon managed to get two whole blocks before detransforming in an alley back to regular 'ol Serena. "Oh Luna, I'm starving!" She complained wearily. At this time of night she would have already missed dinner, her mom would think she ate elsewhere, and she didn't have any money for food. She wished Rei hadn't upset her sundae earlier... or that she'd got to eat more of it first.   
"Serena, is food all you ever think about?" Demanded Luna.  
"Geez, you don't have to get all grumpy on me... its just those attacks leave me so hungry and tired. She stifled a yawn and slowly walked home on shaky legs. Luna frowned, a healing and an offensive in one night, only six months ago that was the sort of energy use that would have blacked usagi out, so Luna was secretly impressed, and she hadn't klutzed even once... if you didn't count the once that she tripped on the way to the fight. If truth be known Luna herself was weary at this point, when she answer the call she'd hoped that the park mercury had referred to was the 'near' park, not one of the many 'far' Parks. Jinxed from the beginning, and cats did after all only have short legs. She jumped on Serenas shoulder and continued to scold occasionally as Serena made her way slowly home. Unfortunately home was a lot further away in Serenas tired and detransformed state, but she seriously doubted she would have the energy to transform. *yawnnn* "I'll get up early and do the assignment t'morrow Luna, 'kay?"  
  
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Serena couldn't help but grin at her predicament, Ms H had given her two days detention for not handing in the assignment, Mrs. B had given her two days for being late, now if she just managed to keep her mouth shut she could attend just two detentions instead of four and neither teacher would be the wiser. Of course having to sit any detention at all was a total bummer, but she could sleep through Biology now and if Mr. K gave her detention, it'd just be more even more efficient. Well that was the plan... except Mr. K gave her a three-day detention instead. Way harsh for just sleeping in class, she thought but knew better than to say anything.  
"MELVIN?!?! YOU got detention...?" Oh hey Serena, yeah... heh heh... I was a bit late for class... uh... I guess you wouldn't have noticed since you were even later and all..."  
"Gee, thanks for your support. MOLLY?!?! You too?"  
"Well Serena, the reason Melvin was late for class was because we..."  
"No way. I don't wanna hear it."  
"...? Serena, did you break up with Darien again...?"  
"Erk! Is it that obvious...?"  
"Well... actually usually you're a lot more depressed, but I never saw you turn down gossip on someone's love life before..."  
"Huh. Well I don't care, who needs that jerk anyway?"  
"Good for you Serena... he may be good looking and all but he's waaaay to old for you, you can do much better"  
"Oh shut up Melvin"  
  
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Was that pity? From Melvin?!?!? Serena sighed morosely... she'd thought she'd hidden this thing pretty well but it seemed everyone was onto her. THIS time she was determined not to let the situation get to her. Maybe when Darien decided he loved her again they'd get back together... but this time she wouldn't welcome him back with open arms... let him suffer a little of what she was going through... not that there was a doubt in her mind that she *would* take him back.  
"Yo! Odango atama! Need a ride home?"  
"Haruka-san!!" She accepted, after all, Haruka and Micheru were hardly strangers, and it was getting kinda dark... Daimons almost always seemed to act during the day... office hours to be precise... and the occasional Saturday (on a different tangent she wondered if the witches got time and a half for weekends), but then Daimons weren't the only danger at night, and after all Serena was only 15... Melvin and Molly only had a one-hour detention while Serena had been there for the whole afternoon. "Domo Arigato! But could you take me to Rei's instead? I've gotta, uhm... return some books and stuff..." Scout meeting... *groan* and late as ever.  
"Sure thing, Odango." Micheru just smiled in that surprisingly bimbo way she had... rather interesting really, since she was actually a musical genius... but then Serena could hardly question Micherus motives, after all, she also played dumb when it suited her.  
""Thanks again Haruka san"  
"Do you want us to wait for you? how are you going to get home?"  
"Nah, that's okay, but thanks for the offer... Luna'll make sure I get home okay."  
Luna? wasn't Luna her cat?!?! wondered Micheru as the car pulled away.  
  
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"Uh... hi guys, sorry I'm late and all..." Actually, thanks to Huruka and Micherus timely deliverance, Serena wasn't nearly as late as she could of been... but late enough to receive a severe tongue lashing from Rei.   
"Geez, lighten up Rei" Interceded Minako, "Serenas only 15 minutes late... that's gotta be a record for her..."  
"18 MINUTES!!!" Shrieked Rei. Minako sweatdropped.  
"Well... anyway... what's up?"  
"Actually Serena, not much... we still don't know anything about the new sailors..." Serena wondered if she should tell them that she suspected Haruka and Micheru, their arrival coinciding was almost too much to be a coincidence... not to mention their personalities... the way they disappeared when diamon appeared... Rei would probably think they were connected with the bad guys though and order them to stay away... which was kinda a logical assumption... but Serena liked Haruka and Micheru, so she said nothing. "What these talismans are..." Well Serena had had dreams hinting at those too... but again kept silent to avoid ridicule. "Heck, there doesn't even seem to be much of a pattern to the daimon attacks... except the targets are usually extraordinary in *some* way..."  
"So... we know nothing. Hmm... very deep... well unless anyone's got anything to add I really gotta get home and do this makeup assignment..."  
"SERENA!" Gasped Luna.  
"What?!? Well its true..." She managed to fake a contrite look for a few minutes.  
Amy ahemed: "Er... does anyone have anything to add...?" Silence. "Well... I guess we all take Serenas advice and go home and study!" She finished happily. Joint groans form Minako and Makoto.  
"THANKS AMES!!"   
  
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Serena was barely a half block away before she ran into Michiru and Haruka again. Huruka had her head down on the steering wheel and Michiru was reading. "Hey guys! I thought you'd have left already!"  
"Peak-hour traffic" whispered Micheru... Huruka didn't respond but a sigh was heard from beneath the lowered head.  
"Still need a ride Odango?"  
Serena felt a set of cat claws pierce her shoulder.. in fact Luna kept them perfectly manicured and sharp just for occasions such as this when Serena trusted people too readily... which was just about always. Serena winced slightly. "Is it okay? what about the traffic?"  
Haruka visibly brightened and even deigned to look up. "We'll be going the other way to get to your place anyway!"  
"Great!" That slightly more aware but hugely overruled part of Serenas mind couldn't help but wonder how Haruka and Micheru knew where she lived, but a free ride was a free ride after all. She couldn't possibly know that one of the Witches Five had targeted her for a Talisman. In fact, right this moment Eudial was putting in overtime to watch the little interaction, she knew Haruka and Micheru were the civilian identities of one sailor Uranus and one sailor Neptune, and fumed slightly at them acquiring the target... but she also knew that despite their claims otherwise they would wait for her to attack and remove the crystal... she wondered if maybe they didn't know how to remove a heart crystal... that was also a definite possibility.  
Eudial had wasted an entire day in front of the school the girl went to, first arriving early to wait... only the girl arrived late, by which point there were far too many people about for her liking... sure a daimon could easily take out a dozen humans, but hundreds in such a confined space...? Eventually the Daimon would be overpowered, and as had happened in the past, someone was likely to return the heart crystal before she got a chance to examine it.  
Then she had waited after school... but what kind of student was this to receive a three-hour detention...? every day? for a week? of course she had been consistently late for a week as well... Eudial was actually beginning to think she'd made a mistake thinking this girl had a pure heart... then the outer senshi had taken an interest and Eudial had redoubled her efforts.  
  
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Usagis parents glared out the window as a car pulled up street side. Papa sorry... I forget his name.. kenji? noticed the car was going at least 5 kilometers over the speed limit...at least... and who was that blond boy fawning over his baby? Mama noticed Usagi wasn't with Darien... and hadn't been for a few days now... it'd considerably drop her status in her social group if her daughter was no longer dating the handsome med-student... but then again that blond boy was wearing one of those private school uniforms, and that was no jalopy he was driving.. maybe this could work out after all... maybe if it wasn't for that other girl in the car. She also wondered if Sammy were too young to start dating.  
"Serena!! Who is that boy? He looks too old for you!" Demanded Kenji as soon as the door was closed.  
"Oh daddy... Harukas only a year older than me, an besides, He is a girl."  
Serena skipped up the stairs in a pretense of going to start homework. Daddy spent the rest of the night in a foetal position muttering about his baby girl.   
  
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Eudial didn't like attacking people in their homes. She considered it bad form. And besides, Japanese houses were typically small and clumsy diamons needed room for their attacks, so she opted to put aside her personal life for yet another weekend and hope the girl decided to go out in her spare time... a park, a mall... maybe a hair salon or coffee shop... As fate would have it Serena HAD decided to go to the mall that weekend, Molly needed a new dress, and Serena needed... well Serena didn't actually need anything, she was just a shopaholic, and after all she had just broken up with her soul mate - excuse enough to hit daddy up for some cash.  
  
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TBC (maybe... well it doesn't really go anywhere yet... wanna break up Darien and Usagi more and maybe introduce a new love-interest... and dis Rei some more...always thought she was a cow ^_^;)  
  
I know everyone says it, but i really mean it!! PLEASE REVIEW!!! (and yes i know i keep switching between english and japanese names... just sometimes the japanese ones fit better and sometimes i forget :P   



	2. Default Chapter Title

'fridayfridayfridayfriday...' *grin*  
  
"Class... CLASS!! Your attention please," Ms H began, losing what passed for her patience - not that she didn't expect this kind of thing on a friday morning. "Class, we have a new student," *SILENCE* Overwhelmed by the sudden drop in decibels, Ms H sweatdropped... a reaction usually reserved for a certain Tsukinos test results. "This is Diamondo, a foreign exchange student from... er... Sector 289?"   
"It's in Europe"  
"Oh I see... Class, please welcome Diamondo Sergi and help him find his way about th school." Ms H wasn't a big one for introductory speeches so she let the students begin their interogation.  
Minako: "Hey diamondo-kun, do you have a girlfriend?"  
Makoto: "He looks just like my old boyfriend...*sigh*"  
Rei: "Do you think he's rich?"  
Amy: *What an unusual hair colour, perhaps he has kidney problems?* She made a mental note to find out Diamondos medical history.  
Serena: zzzz... well if she had been awake she might have wondered why the gaijin looked so familiar... or maybe what Rei was doing in her homeroom since she didn't even go to this school.  
Minako: "Hey! Diamondo-chan, aren't you a bit old for this class?"  
Diamando sweatdropped at the insensitive question.  
"uh... well my japanese isn't so good so i'm staying back a year until i get the hang of it"  
"oh okay ^_^"  
Rei & Makoto: *an older man *sigh**  
Amy: *he's dedicated to his studies... even accepting the humiliation of a setback to improve his japanese *sigh**  
Minako: *he's male and single! banzai!!*   
Serena: zzzzzz.....  
"Psst! Hey Serena!" minako wasn't above boasting about the new class acquisition and she knew this one called for a major gossip session. "SERENA. WAKE UP!"  
"Huh? Oh wha.." Serena woke groggily, picked up her books off the table and started to walk out the room. Unfortunately there seemed to be some grey-haired guy blocking the door. They looked at each other confused for a moment.  
"Tsukino! Class isn't over yet! Return to your seat!"  
"What? Why'd you wake my Minako, Ms H says class isn't over yet..." She shrugged and return to her seat half dazed under the penitent glare of Ms H.   
"Err... okay Diamondo,you can take the seat next to Mizuno-san for now." Not really having any idea who Mizuno-san was, Diamando walked in the direction ms. H pointed until he found an empty desk and sat at it. It also happened to have a wierd blonde with pulsating red hearts for eyes on one side and another blonde directly in front, the one that had almost walked through him just moments ago. Except now she was asleep. If someone had pointed it out to him, he would have been suprised that he hadn't noticed that her hair was done exactly the same way as the girl he was looking for.  
  
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"YAY!! WEEKEND!!! I am so outta here!!" cheered serena when the final bell woke her from her sleep. Funny how she seemed to be able to sleep through anything yet the very first sound of that bell and she was wide awake. 'maybe its the frequency?' mused amy.  
"er... Serena? don't you have detention?"   
Serena froze mid step. "Aw minako, why'd you have to bring that up...? You too?"  
"Nope! I actually managed to do everything right this week!"   
"WHAAAAT?!?!? TRAITOR!!!"  
Serena trudged wearily back to class, slamming her bag on tehh desk and sulking. Several whole seconds ticked by on the wall clock before she recognised someone else was waiting for Ms. H as well, he looked oddly familiar (but then everyone in her class looked familiar... she just never spent enough time awake around most of them to remember their names). "Hey! Whatcha in for... Er... and who are you anyway?"  
*sweatdrop* (at this rate Diamondo was convinced he'd be dehydrated before he got out.. school was much tougher than he thought).  
"Diamondo Sergi? This is my first day, we're in the same homeroom...?"  
"The H gave you detention on the first day? Way harsh..."  
"Uhm... actually I'm just waiting for some books."  
"Ohh... heh"  
*tick tick tick*  
"Uhm... do you think she'll be much longer?"  
"Ms H? shes probably chatting up Mr K in the Faculty Lounge... she's always late" *but I'M the one that gets the detention* thought Serena. "Do you have to be somewhere? I can get 'em for you and bring them to your place later if you want.. i'm here all afternoon anyway."  
'Place? I don't *have* a place yet', thought Diamando. Having had his powerbase completely destroyed was pretty tough on a malevolent off-worlder, ultimately he'd decided to throw in the towel. 342 volumes of manga later he'd decided he's best place to hide out would be as a 20th century earth student, according to his soource, everyone would be completely oblivious to a slightly different high school student. As long as he avoided relationships with the opposite (or same) sex he'd be just fine. And being able to produce perfect diamonds at the snap of his fingures covered his financial problems as well.  
"Okay, sure" he finally consented, but my place is pretty far from here, how about i meet you at the crown arcade?" (he'd heard several students mention it so he figured it must be close).  
"Meetcha at 5 then, oh, and could ya give this to a friend of mine?"  
  
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Diamondo cautiosly approached the arcade about an hour later, having met a realator and aquired an appartment not far from here (ironically enough in the same apartment building as Darien... or maybe not considering the owners complete lack of morals when it came to renting to minors and not asking questions about where their finances came from... or even about their parents or why they might chose to occassionally leap from their windows wearing tuxedos and the like...). He took out the folded piece of paper Serena had scrawled a note on, and while his japanese was bad, he knew enough to tell the kanji was messy. There were three stick figures labelled ami-chan, makoto-chan and minako-chan circled with 'give to one of them' written next to it, on the other side there was a picture of an evil looking dark haired girl with 'not her' written next to it.   
Diamando made his way to the distinctive blonde, thankfully sans heart shaped eyes this time, maybe because she hadn't spotted him yet. " er.. Minako-chan?"  
Minako was fluster for a moment to be called 'chan' by someone she'd only met breifly, but took it to mean mayb ehe really liked her or something.... instantly the hearts reapeared.  
"Yes Di-chan?"  
"Uhm... Serena asked me to give you this..." Di-chan? He passe dover the note which was immediately snatched away by the person who could only be 'not-her', he grimaced inwardly at his own mistake as she read aloud, " Hey minna! Gonna be late, please look after Di-chan. Lotsa Love Sere! xox *bunny-picture*.  
'Di-chan?' *twitch*  
"I SHOULDA KNOWN THAT MEATBALL HEAD COULDN'T GET HERE ON TIME... figures." Muttered rei. "She didn't even say what time she'd get here."  
"Uhm, she said she'd meet me about 5."  
"Three hour detention." snickered Minako.  
"Like on a date?!?!?" demanded Makoto, visions of herself and Diamando in western style wedding attire flying out of her head.  
"No. No. not exactly..." Well at least he didn't think so. He patted his pocket to make sure he'd remembered his wallet... just in case he told himself... afte rall she was kinda cute and she WAS doing him a faour... maybe he could just buy her some ice cream or something as thanks.  
"THIS guy has a date with Serena?" demanded Darien glaring at the younger-appearing boy. "Are you sure you're entirely sane?"  
"Hey darien, rack off!" Demanded Makoto rising in her seat, Diamondo just watched in a detached kind of amusement as the girls drove off the intruder.  
"Huh. He looked kind of familiar, who is he?"  
"Him? Oh he's just Serenas Ex. Don't worry about him."  
"Isn't he a bit old for her?" Hah. That was a good one, comng from him. But then immortals were allowed to question the way of mortals.. it was like a hobby tech thing.  
Multiple sweatdrops later Minako and Makoto dragged Diamondo over to the games, leaving amy to pretend to study while Rei raved about... well... everything, and Darien to fume at the counter over a cup of java.  
  
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"Oh man, I had no idea books were so heavy!" announced Serena dumping the books at the Amy-Rei occupied booth. "Thats becaus eyou never read any." Commented Rei off-handedly.  
"Hey Di-chan! Got Your books here!!" 'Di-chan?' that name seemed to be sticking, but Diamondo wasn't about to correct them, he was kinda getting used to it... in a passive kinda way.  
'She's just delivering his books.' Sighed Darien who'd been prepared to declare his undying love (again) in order to drive away the interloper. the threat over he started to pack away his own things.  
"Thanks Serena, you're a life saver! Can I get you a drink or anything?"  
"He might as well just hand over his wallet!" Snickered Minako mere seconds efore she'd registered she should be jealous, "Heeeey!! ! Wait a minute..." After all she'd just invested the last hour teaching Diamando to play the Sailor V game,,, time that she could have spent... well.. er... playing the sailor V game, and he hadn't offered her a drink.  
"Minako? Makoto? Amy?" Out of deference to his earlier mistake he didn't ask the forth girl (that and he didn't actually know her as anything other than 'not-her'). He also knew she would probably just interpret it as an oversight since he didn't know her elike the others in his class so it wasn't a complete insult.  
EARTH FOOD JUST TASTED SO DARN GOOD!!!!! O.K. so maybe it wasn't as efficient as just sucking someones energy out, but Diamondo LIKED ice-cream! He was on his fifth pafait, usagi was on her sixth. The other girls just looked horrified as their companions inhaled ice cream. By the time it came to order again he was on a first name basis with the somewhat shocked andrew. He looked from Serena to Diamondo to serena... 'these guys just have to be related..." he thought to himself.  
"Oh man! Sorry Diamondo, minna, i really gotta go" Serena announced around a mouthful of icecream while glancing at the wall clock. "My Parents will kill me if I'm late again." She paused just long enough to gulp the rest of the dessert before grabbing her bag and making for the exit, shortly followed by makoto, amy and rei, with similar reasons. Minako sat opposite Diamando as he finished his sundae, her eyes mere slits. Diamando gulped nervously, and went and payed, feeling Minas eyes follow him across the room. He looked at Andrew with pleading eyes. Andrew took the situation in immediatly. "Theres a window in the mens room he whispered conspiratorially."  
  
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"Andrew, I think theres something wrong with Di-chan... he's been in the mens room for over an hour already!"  
  
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End of Chapter and tommorrows saturday (in the fic) off to the mall with molly   
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Default Chapter Title

Diamando didn't know why he'd sid that. Just it seemed right at the time. He'd felt so possesive all of a sudden, confronted by her family. Evaluating his intentions. But then, what were his intentions...? He could swear 24 hours ago he just wanted someone to pick up his books while he aranged things with the realator, and now he had a 'girlfriend'. this was exactly the sort of commitment the manga had told him to avoid. Not that he minded. He was comfortable being around her. In a confusing kind of way.  
Tuxedo Kamen watched the boy leave the house form the shadows, his wo companions concealed in the alley. Usakos family had never, ever, welcomed him like that. Jealous? Bt there was more.. the boy had a weird aura... not unlike Serenas... no way it could be as simple and uncomplicated as them being related...? maybe some relative from the future/past? it HAD happened before. But no. Setsuna had made it perfectly clear that the boy was a threat to his happy future. It was time to remove the competition.  
  
Setsuna frowned. She'd rarly seen the princess so happy as she had been at that dinner... it didn't look like the morose Serena of just a few weeks before. SH ewa sgenuinely happy... and not just the facade that Neo-Queen Serenity presented. Was she doing the right thing? Her duty was to Serena first she chided... but pluto was very attached to the little princess rini... was her loyalty swaying? Pluto wasn't even sure when Rini would be conceived... not exactly... Serena might live several peaceful lifetimes before Crystal Tokyo.. perhaps several marraiges even... happy ones. Did she have the right to interfere at this level? These were the sorts of questions that plagued her every day of her exisistance, but now they seemed to have increased in intensity. Should she contact uranus and neptune? they were busy searching for the talismens, but perhaps this boy was a bigger threat to their future... Setsuna couldn't help but think her judgement might be a greater threat.  
  
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"Serena!! SERENA!! WAKEUP!!!" Luna yelped as serena tossed in bed. "hey Luna, I haven't seen you since yesterday morning... where ya been? With Artimus?" Serena grinned evilly as Luna denied the charges haughtily. "looking for you Serena... when you didn't come back from the mall with Molly all the scouts were worried. "Aw... lighten up Luna... they coulda buzze dme on the communicator if they were really worried... "Serena, you know the communicator is only for emergencies, now get up! you have that meeting at 12" "LUNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAA!!! It's already 10:30!!!! Why didn't you wake me sooner...?" 'As if i could' mused Luna in a flurry of bed clothes and Pajamas.  
"Haff... haff... LUNA!! Gonna Make it on time!!" Serena was exalant (if red-faced and puffing) when she reached he temple, whipping back the doors she yelled, "HI GUYS!!!"  
"Oh my! Serena!! you're almost on time for once! I'm impressed!" Commented Amy.  
"What do you mean 'almost'? I'm perfect!!"  
"Uh Serena.. i think your watch is slow... about 10 minutes..." Makoto explained glancing at Serenas watch.  
"What? I suppose you think I changed it or something as an excuse?" Serena said defiantly to the fuming Rei. Rei said nothing. She couldn't exactly refuse the charge when that just happened to be exactly what she was thinking.  
"Hmpf. Well anyway, whats this meeting about?" Amy looked a Minako, Minako looked to Makoto, Makoto looked to Rei. "Guys?? oh wait... let me guess... you've decided to kick me off as leader... maybe Rei happens to have the exact leadership qualities you're looking for...? "  
Rei had the dignity to at least blanche a bit at that. "Serena, where were you yesterday?"  
"I went to the mall with Molly, then I got a lift home with Haruka and Michiru." Serena deliberately ommitted her side trip, after all, she had the suspicion the scouts would have loved to have banned her form seeing Haruka and Micheru - sometimes she felt the scouts tried to keep her not form harm so much as from the influence of other people... anyone but themselves that is of course... thats was the logic she used when she left Darien (oh sure he'd dumped her first... but she wasn't goign to pine anymore... when she was Neo-queen serenity she wouldn't have her leadership questioned by that false devotion the old moon princess had had for Prince Endymion. She glanced at Luna who wouldn't hold her stare. No. Not Molly.   
"No way you Guys!! Mollys my oldest friend... we've been together since preschool, no way am i giving her up!"  
Amy was perhaps not as suprised as the others at Serenas observation and outburst, she'd witnessed such Serenas mind work like this before. "Not Molly Serena."  
"Haruka and Micheru?" She pouted.  
"DIAMONDO!" yelled rei. "We don't know anything about him and Darien says he's trouble... just stay away from him, okay?"  
"Huh?" Serena shook for a moment unde rtehir glares, eyes toward the floor. "No." She whispered, "you can't tell me who i can and can't see." But they could. The four of them would simply not leave her alone. Hound her day and night like they had before, driving off anybody who would have been her friend. They''d even tried to drive a wedge between rini and her before tehy'd figured out who rini was.  
"And I don't think you should see Haruka and Micheru either... those two just put wierd ideas into your head." Finished Rei triumphantly. Molly was hardly a threat at all.  
Two ice blue eyes shot up and glared at Rei. "i said, 'no', Princess mars." The formal title was not lost on the fire princess. "I think I've heard quite enough for today." As an after thought she tossed her communicator into the circle of scouts. She knew Luna would return it to her eventually.  
"Tail her Makoto." Rei whispered, a barely hidden snarl in her voice.  
  
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Serena was barely aware of herself walking to the arcade, unconsciously seeking out that quiet, confident support andrew always seemed to radiate.  
"Hey Serena! Rough day?" He asked, noticing her downcast eyes.  
"Hey Andrew... if you had a friend who didn't wnt you to have another friend and they said it was to protect you but you thought maybe they just didn't want you having other friends besides them, what would you do?" "Serena, are you having trouble with Darien again?" "Huh? no way! That jerk is so out of my life... this is rei and the gang!" She covered her mouth then... "Pretend you didn't hear that bit, okay?" Andrew smiled reassuringly, if it was just the girls it was probably okay.   
  
*ding ding*  
  
"Oh.. uhm... hi Darien!" andrew announced knowing Serena had heard but not seen the new comer.  
"Hiya Andrew, hiya SERENA!" Big Warm Smile. "How've you been? Can i buy you a soda?" Serena winced disbeleivingly... Andrew facefaulted. Darien came up behind Serena, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, leaning in for the kiss he expected from the ever devoted Serena.Andrew experienced a mild cardiac arrhythmia.  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING....? GET OFF ME YOU HENTAI!!!!" Screamed Serena. Andrew could have aplauded.. and probably would have if he didn't feel the need to step in.  
"Serena?" Darien queried, genuinely shocked.  
"Hey Darien, stop harassing my customers."   
"Serena? Whats wrong with you? It's me! Darien! Ha she done something to you?"  
"He who? Andrew?" she asked disbeleivingly. "No way! Whys it such a shock to you i realised what an arse you are? Just leave me ALONE!"  
Darien backed off under the scrutiny of Andrew and Serena. He decided not to make a scene by declaring he'd get her back.. too many witnesses. "And you can't get me through my friends Darien... just leave, okay?" She whispered threateningly. Narrowed eyes watched as he backed out. Andrew glanced at Serena, suddenly genuinely concerned. Maybe this wasn't nothing after all. "Sorry to get you involved in all this Andrew." "Hey Sere, no sweat... i get off n a couple of hours, you want i should give you a ride home?" "Yeah" she replied "i think that would be best."  
  
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"Hey andrew...?"  
"yep Serena?" He finished packing his gear and was about to switch off the lights when Serena had called from her seat at the counter.  
"Look in the security mirror behind you." He looked at the convex mirror and saw Makoto talking with rei across the street. "They've been there for abot an hour watching me... maybe longer.. i didn't notice until now. I'm really scared." A tear slipped down her cheek. "Hey Sere, do you think you'll be okay at home?" "i think so.. maybe.. but i gotta go to school tommorrow." "Got detention after school?" "Not yet." "I have to work, but can you get someone you trust to bring you here straight after school? Molly? It's closer to home and I can give you a lift when I get off again." "You're so good to worry about me andy." He'd really hoped she'd refuse... lighten the situation,,, say she'd be fine... be regular bouncy serena... now he was really worried.   
  
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	4. Default Chapter Title

Saturday morning. Get up. Get dressed. And head to his favorite corner.  
  
He didn't know what it was about this corner, maybe it was a crystal point or something, but he knew if he stood here long enough sooner or later a certain moon princess would be so distracted she would run into him, possibly knocking him down. It would be worth it, to feel her touch, how ever brief. Just to hear her voice, meek and apologetic at first, then full of fire as she realised who she had run into. Of course it was saturday, and if he knew Serena it would probably be late rather than sooner.  
Rounding the next block he stopped in suprise as he noticed Diamondo standing at his corner, looking confused,,,? lost maybe he realised. It was logical really, he was new to Juuban... new to Japan if you thought about it. Darien cosidered giving the lad directions, but decided not, remembering the cold looks he'd got after the gils ha delated some of Dariens infamy to Diamondo. Not that he could blame him, he must seem like a terrible person to anyone that didn't know the... er... complications. That aside he had to find some way to move the oy before... NOOOO!!!! at the end of the street he could just make out the glint of gold and the accostomary dust cloud of one very high velocity tsukino. "Damn" he muttered stepping out of view.  
Upon hearing the high pitched wail Diamondo turned into the oncoming vehicle, frowned, then... took a step back. Serena came to a screeching halt a few steps away. Something akin to suprise, having been expecting the normal high speed impact. Recovering quickly she laughed a little. "Ohayo Di-chan!"  
"Ohayo Serena, in a hurry?"  
"Kinda :P, I'm meant to meet Molly at the mall and all... but she knows I'm always late anyway, so I gotta few minutes, why?"  
"UH.." it was incredibly embaressing to admit. Incredibly. "Y'see... I'm kinda lost and i need to buy a school uniform and all..."  
"TO THE MALL!!" Yelled Serena grabbing Diamandos' hand and dragging him behind as she took off at her inhuman pace again.  
  
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"MOLLLLLYYYYYYYYGOMENNASAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGOMENGOMENGOMEN"  
"Serena! You made it after all... you had mme worried"  
"Aw, come on Mol, you know I'm never on time... Hey, if i ever am on time, thats when you should worry!" replied Serena with a giggle.  
"Hey Diamando-san! Are you coming too?"  
"Di-chans gotta buy a uniform." Explained Serena distastefully. Diamondo idn't mind really, he wasn't much of a talker so having serena there sacved him a lot of work. Naru just nodded, a twitch of an eyebrow the only sign she'd registered the use of the affection.  
"Why don't you go with Marvin, Di-san, we'll meet up with you guys later at the coffee shop!" Exclaimed Naru, as if it were a perfectly normal assumption for any mall in japan to have only one coffee shop. "Serena and I wanna look at girl stuff," she added with a giggle before the pair disappeared. Marvin turned out to be the coke-bottle glasses kid from class, and as he was soon to learn, very attached to Molly.  
  
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Summer uniform, winter uniform, and gym uniform later Diamando and Melvin sat at the Cafe to wait for the girls. truth be known Melvin was a little nervous as to wheather this was the right Cafe, but since he and naru had been here before it was the logical choice. Diamondo was quiet as usual, but Melvin was neither suprised nor offended, after all, he just presumed Diamondo didn't speak or understand as much Japanese as necessary for effective conversation. So he just gushed about what a catch Naru was to fill the akward silences.  
  
And there were lots of them.   
  
Heh. Maybe Diamando didn't know how two boys sitting alone togther in a cafe, one of them eating an elaborate parfait looked, but Melvin did.   
  
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"MOLLY!!"  
"SERENA!!"  
The releived cries were obvious to anybody - well anybody but th two oblivious, giggling, package burdened girls. "Hey guys!" Serena beamed, holding a large stuffed pink bunny up for inspection.  
"Kawaiiii!!" Giggled Molly, giving melvin a meaningful nudge.  
"Very cute, Serena." Melvin commented getting the point. "Cute" Diamando echoed.  
"Thanks guys!! Wll Mol, I gotta split... plus I'm brokeand all now :P Cya Monday, 'kay?"   
"Bye Serena"  
Diamando waved goodbye as Serena left in imitation of Melvin and Molly. Melvin and Molly. He looked at them accross the table. Molly and Melvin. there was something he'd forgotten here... oops. "Uh... bye guys...?" Thier releived grins was obviously a respons eto the right answer, grabbing him package she made in the general direction serena had headed.  
A pity really, since she was half way accross Juuban already.  
  
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"Gee, I'm sure glad you guys happened to show up when you did, i had no idea how i was gonna get all this stuff home... not that i'd actually got around to thinking about that yet," grinned Serena, surrounded in parcels with the bunny on her lap in the back of Harukas car.   
"No problem Odango, we happened to be in the area anyway..." Yeah right... like they hadn't been tagging Eudial all morning and nabbed the target mere seconds before the diamon was exposed. haruka cursed herself for soft-heartedness. just a few more minutes and they would have known for sure if Serena had a talisman, but not knowing for now at least meant possibly not having to kill the girl that Micheru and herself had grown a little fond of (no, not in that way... more like a younger sister).  
Now if there was only soem way to keep the Odango unde rtheir protection for a few hours until Eudial got frustrated and quit for the day. Food was always an option.. "Hey Serena, have you eaten yet?" Asked Micheru, echoing Harukas thoughts. "Yeah Odango, wanna eat with us?"   
Serena looked up with a trademark whimper, "Guys, I'd love to, but I'm... you know... broke..."  
"This ones on me Odango!" Those were the last words Haruka remembered saying before Serena and Micheru systematically bankrupted her.  
  
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"Bye Haruka! Bye Micheru! Thanks for the steaks and the icecream and the chocolate and the candy and this!!" Serena held aloft a giant pink bunny, the oversized twin to the one she'd bought earlier with Molly.  
"Do you think she'll be okay now?" Asked haruka. "Eudial quit half way between the restaurant and seaworld." "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!?" "Sore wa himitsu desu"  
  
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Diamondo watched form behind a conveniently placed tree as the car pulled up, disengorging serena with (if it was possible) twice as many parcels as she'd had before. Diamando had come here directly after he'd seen serena get in the car with the two (to him) strangers. But she seemed fine. Lucky for them. If they'd hurt her he had his ways to make them pay. Wondering why he... cared so much, he started to walk away, and would have if he hadn't fallen with a resounding thump over a tree root. Typical. After all they tended to be attached to trees.  
"Daijobu?"  
"Uh... oh, hi serena..."  
"Diamando,,,? WAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH" Snickered... okay... gaffawed serena... "I'm sorry Di-chan... just I've fallen over that root so many times now... it's sorta cool to see someone else do it.... Gomen... *snicker*"  
"Thats okay... i think..." OKAY?!?!? OKAY?!?!? He'd never been so humiliate din hi slife... well not since he'd been a permanent earth resident anyway.  
"Hey! Help me wih this stuff up to my room and i'll see if we go any ice!" (We usually do, she thought)  
"HI MOM! HI DAD! hi sammy."  
"MOM!!! DAD!!! SERENAS GOT A BOY IN HER ROOM!!!"  
"A BOY?!?!? REALLY?!?!?! SERENA!!!! I'M SO HAPPY!!!!"  
"Uh... dad.. you feeling okay...? Hey Mom, can Di-chan stay for dinner?"  
"Of course sweetheart..."  
"Uh... Dad... why are you crying...?"  
  
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'SO... this is a girls room' thought Diamondo. Pretty much what he'd expected from the manga he'd seen... just... more so... more pink... more fluffy.... more hearts and bears and bunnies and kittys... the net effect was almost nauseting... and yet oddly surreal...  
"Sorry my folks are so wierd Di" even wierder than usual for them she thought. "Just dump that stuff on the bed" She could still hear her mothers joyous singing and her fahers tears of joy.  
"Theres not much to do up here really... you wanna go play some video games or something? Shingo won't mind" (if he doesn't know). "And hey, you CAN stay for dinner, right?"  
"Serena!! Phone!!"  
"Whoa, c'mon Di" Cried serena dragging him downstairs.  
  
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"No!!! Jump!! JUMP!!!" Sammy instructed while Serena took the call from Amy.  
"WHAT?!?!?! at 12 instead of 1?!?!? but Ames, I'll have to get out of bed earlier... yes... yess... i know.... responsibility.. uh huh... uhuhu..."  
Amy had come to the distinct conclusion that Serena had tuned out right after 'moshi moshi', but then all she'd agreed to was telling Serena, not getting her to arrive on time so she prepared to hang up.  
"Sailor Mercury! Sailor Mercury!" Squealed Shingo excitedly...  
"Sereana...?"  
"heh... don't worry about it Ames... Its just shingo and Diamondo playing some video games."  
"Diamondos there?"  
"Yeah, he's staying for dinner... I think... he never actually said yes but he hasn't left so probably. hey! have you had a look at the math problems we got set? i can't work out the second one... or the first one either really... Ames? Ames?"  
"Oh.. um... sorry Serena.. Ha.. gotta go.. seeya tommorrow."  
"My turn! My turn!" Amy heard Serena yell before the click signalling the hangup.......... Amy replaced the handset on the speakerphone before turning to her companions, a huge sweatdrop running down the back of her head.  
"Uh... Luna? Serenas fine, shes at home now... no need to worry..."  
"My One True Love... stolen from me by that... that traitor..." sobbed minako.  
"Huh. I guess she really is over Darien after all." Commented Lita.  
  
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"Steak for dinneR? whats the occasion mom?"  
"Occasion? What are you talking about honey? we have steak for dinner all the time.."   
"Sure mom." Serena fumbled indelicately with the western cutlery before spearing a piece of meat with her fork.  
"Soooo... you're an exchanged student Diamondo?" 'Ah! Kami-sama! Dad?!?!? Making conversation with a boy?!?!?' Serena swallowed the last of her steak, apparently without chewing, as it went to join the three steak dinners she'd already eaten today she exused herself poitely and went into the bathroom to think. 'What the hell is going on? Mom, Dad... even sammy being reasonably nice to me... and worse... nice to Diamondo... this is seriously freaking me out...' she sat. She thought. She thought some more.  
*tap tap*  
"Hey Serena? You okay in there? Mom says were gonna have desert now! You want ice cream on your cake?"  
If this was the effect of some wierd daimon, Serena hoped it stuck around for a while.   
  
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Kenji was getting teary again as his wife offerd the foreigner coffee, tea or hot chocolate. At Serenas urging he asked for hot chocolate, Serena herself even made it, piling the cup high with marshmallows. After the amount of icecream (while perhaps not rivaling Serenas own appetite) he'd eaten Kenji was sure he'd pass on the sugar laden treats, but he sipped the hot brew savoring the flavour, even adding a couple of heaped spoons of sugar just like Serena... this had to be a match made in heaven.   
Now, just to pop the question.   
"So Diamondo... how long have you and Serena been dating?" It was as if a dark cloud had passed over the moon sending the house into darkness... in fact, the dense Kenji probably beleived that was the caus efor the strained silence.  
"Daaaaaad! We're not dating, we're just frien..."  
"Kenji honey, no need to jump to conclusions, he only just..."  
"Two days now." Diamando interupted.  
  



	5. Default Chapter Title

A Long Time Ago:  
  
"SILENCE!! WE all know why we're here... The Moon Queen has far too much power." King Earth and King Mars nodded at he ambassador from... where? Queen Jupiter didn't respond... but she listened... The defenders of Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Mercury, Venus... these were hereditory positions... there was little to defend on the dead planets, but they were an incredible sources of power to the holders of their star seeds. They weren't here, theres no way they would turn on their precious queen. Not and risk being sent from the moon palace to their own undeveloped worlds. Earth and mars were different, they had populations; life forces pulsed on theri surfaces. Was it really a need to protect their peoples, or just power greed...? Of course Jupiter mourned the loss of her inhabited moon, the Moon Queen had not been able to stop the meteors that scoured the surface, wiping life from her planet sized moon, the queen had been young, she hadn't mastered the silver crystal yet... her ignorance had cost Jupiter her peopole. And Jupiter wanted revenge. Thats why she was willing to listen to the power hungry fools.   
Earth had its own plans, a prince the near the age of the Queens sole daughter, careful arrangement had placed them close and the Earth King had refused his support - not openly, not yet. But Mars had pushed, Jupiter had provided the distraction, and Mas had crept into the moon citadel and stolen the silver crystal... but he never realised he would not be able to control it.. ultimately his attempt had killed him, and erased all life on his planet, except his eldest daughter, who had been on the moon at the time, she swore fealty and was accepted by the moon kingdom, Princess Mars - but the loss of a planet and a father was no loss she could condone.  
Ultimately the queen discovered Earths plot, by which stage Princess Serenity was deeply in love with the earth Prince, it broke Queen Serenities hear to seperate her daughter from the deceptive prince. But King earth was not without a backup plan, he had summoned Queen Beryl, his supposed ally and Serenties enemy, giving her reign of his generals, to destroy Serenity and take the silver crystal for himself... fool, did he really think he could control it? but beryl turned on him, seeing his Kingdom as little more than a life force source. Ultimately queen serenity sacraficed her own life force to imprison Beryl, sending her daughter and the planet princesses souls to be reincarnated in a better time. She sent the Prince in hopes he might forget his deceptive ways without the influence of his power hungry father, and perhaps this time not break her daughters heart.  
But souls have a habit of staying true to themselves...  



	6. Default Chapter Title

  
CAT!!! I LOVE YOU!!!! (my first and so far only reviewer... if you were being sarcastic I just want you to know in the event I ever find out I will have to track you down and kill you... but in the meantime *huuuuuuuuuug*)  
  
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CHAPTER 6 (decided to use chapter headers incase I stuff uploading again v_v)  
  
  
The birds were singing, the sun was shining, the alarm was beeping,,, Serena jumped bolt upright in bed, glaring at the clock which told her she'd been sleeping through the last 20 minutes of alarm. She supposed it could be worse... she'd overslept much more before, but she just couldn't afford to be late today. 'No detention'. She told herself over and over, dressing hurriedly, she took at the preprepared list and made sure she packed all the books and supplies she needed before adding the superneat homework she'd painstakingly prepared.  
It was a rare day indeed for the Tsukino family when Serena entered the kitchen early. "Hey Serena, not feeling well?" Asked Sammy. "Haha. Very funny Sammy." "Seriously Serena, are you sure you're okay...?" "MooooOOOOOOooooMMMMM!!!! I'm fine! I just wanted an early start!" Serena wolfed down the western style breakfast, pausing only to whack her chest a few times to dislodge a piece of toast that had gotten stuck in her oesophagus - one of the risks associated with not chewing. "Geez!! Do you guys eat like this EVERY morning?" Serena demanded as Ikoku placed a plate of pancakes in the middle of the table. "Huh. I gotta start getting up earlier more often."  
""Hiya Ms. H!" Greeted Serena, perhaps a little disrespectful for a student to teacher relationship, not that Ms. Haruna would have noticed, she was still in shock from the fact that Serena was on time... slightly early even... and handing in... HOMEWORK?!? Slapping the completed pile of homework on the desk Serena took her seat with a giggle, beaming at the world in general... well except for that pocket of the world which was the glaring Amy and Minako. They were wondering what had happened to Makoto who'd been meant to ...er... accompany Serena to school that morning... maybe Lita had missed her since Sere was here so early.  
Even though she'd been early, Serena had found she preferred the brisk run to school rather than walking... walking had just seemed a waste of time, so she'd taken her normal 100 kph sprint instead, leaving a flustered yet decidedly slower Makoto trailing behind... Darien, if he'd placed himself on his usual corner at the right time was probably still standing there - he couldn't have known she'd be running on time.  
The bell rang, snapping Ms. H out of her reverie, and she stutteringly took the class roll. Minutes later a panting Makoto appeared, excusing herself. A recovering Ms. H, in an attempt to regain a little dignity gave her a one-hour detention. Serena couldn't help grinning.  
'Whoa' Serena had had no idea how easy it could be to stay awake in class after she'd had a proper breakfast - after all, it had never actually happened before. Even with the extra hours spent awake last night she hadn't had any trouble yet. She watched with interest as Ms. H set about explaining the next problem. Ms. H was wondering if aliens were controlling her star flunkout. Maybe one of those youme or digimon things... it was not only possible, it had even happened to other students before, but she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.   
  
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Pluto was in the time corridor, examining the two most likely future outcomes. One the Crystal Tokyo she had thought was the ultimate future, the other the barely formed new reality. She sighed to herself, placing one hand to ease her pulsing temple, the other steadied herself on her staff.  
"She's so happy there Pu." Said a small voice, breaking the perfect silence. But it wasn't small lady or chibi-Usa. It was neo-princess serenity in her adult form. She smiled looking at the newly formed reality. "She never smiles like that in my reality."  
"Small lady." Pluto smiled at the girl fondly. "You know you're not supposed to exist out of time like this, especially not now."  
"Pu... did you know when my mother sent me from crystal Tokyo to the past, she did it without consent? Its the only time I ever saw her defy the other scouts and Endymion."  
Pluto was (to say the least), surprised at this revelation.  
"She had her reasons Pu, I had to see her heal those people, I had to learn they could be saved..." a tear rolled down her cheek as she added, "It's the only reason I was able to refuse when Endymion and Mars tried to get me to use the crystal Pu, I don't want to hurt people." Neo-princess serenity transferred into her chibi form as Pu hugged her while she wept.   
So much suddenly made sense to Pluto, sending chibi-Usa to the past - despite the dangers, why chibi-Usa had never chosen to grow up - as a child she couldn't possibly harness the incredible amount of energy from the silver crystal - couldn't be used...  
"Small Lady," interrupted Pluto, I don't think you can exist in the new reality... without Endymion..." Chibi-Usa was the amalgam of Earth and Moon, without Endymion Chibi Usa would never have been born.  
"*Sniff* I don't care Pu.. I want mommy to be happy... she deserves to be happy... please Pu..." "Small-lady..."  
  
-----------  
  
FLASHBACK:   
  
"Setsuna? Do you know why Mars couldn't control the crystal?"  
"Queen Serenity? I.. I guess I presumed he couldn't handle the power..." Pluto wondered what had suddenly brought this up, it had been quite a number of years since the Mars King had destroyed himself and his people.  
"Hmm.. no, he didn't have a pure heart. The crystal healed him, burnt away all the evil in his mind, but there wasn't enough left to keep his body alive, so he died. That's why Princess Serenity will be able to control the crystal, but a pure heart and mind leaves you extremely vulnerable, I worry about her..." Pluto followed the Queens gaze to where a young Princess lent over a balcony to receive a rose from a young Earth prince, and frowned. "I'm sorry Pluto, I can tell this upsets you but I had to tell you, you'll need to know one day.." Queen serenity winked at the time guardian before placing a finger on her lips in the 'secret' gesture, "you'll look after her when I'm gone Setsuna, see that she's happy." *Gone?* What did she mean? Setsuna had filed the cryptic comment for later examination as they were interrupted by another fawning diplomat.  
  
------------  
  
"I thought it'd be easier if I came to you as an adult Pu, but its not... I want you to know that I know I won't exist... please Pu... they're killing her."   
Setsuna was devastated by this news, which put her actions into a whole new perspective. She had aided Endymion, albeit unwittingly. She had endangered Princess Serenity... Neo Queen Serenity... her oaths echoed through her head "In whom do you serve, and whom do you trust...?"  
"Small Lady... I.." Setsuna looked into those cinnamon eyes, sparkling with tears and thought her heart would break. "I understand what must be done."  
  
Neither Small Lady nor Pluto noticed as in the newly formed reality, a familiar pink haired neo-princess ran up and hugged her mother.  
  
  
"MooooOOOOoooolly!! But you can't be busy today!!"  
"Sorry Serena, but my Mom wants me to come help her after school today at the store... you know, she was worried for a while since that Youma attack that it might affect her clientele, but business is booming!! She's even paying me!"  
"..." Serena looked downcast for a moment before brightening. "Hey! Maybe I could help too!! Your Mom wouldn't even have to pay me Mol..."  
Molly sweatdropped remembering the last time Serena had tried to 'help' with Melvins model trains and decided maybe it would be better if Serena didn't get all that near to anything valuable. "Oh... er... I couldn't let you do that Serena, you'd be much to bored, don't worry about it, I'll be fine!!!"  
"Okay Molly." Serena pouted, but deided it would be better not to make Molly feel bad about it, so instead faked one of her patented instant recoveries. "Cya tommorrow?"  
"Sure thing Sere!"   
Serena looked around worriedly for someone... anyone.. she might know well enough to go to the arcade with, but to be perfectly frank, while she had remained on fairly good terms with most of the student body, she'd alienated almost everybody since 'scout-business' had started taking up all her time. She'd been genuinely shocked to realise she didn't even know half their names.  
Serena was almost in tears after 15minutes of searching the departing students... maybe she could find Melvin or Di-chan? No such luck. Five Minutes ago she had noticed an impatient looking Rei pacing outside the school gates talking to someone just out of view... probably Darien, she mused. Makoto was still in detention - with Minako who'd taken a page out of Serenas old book and fallen asleep in class. Serena was nearly in tears when she felt a familiar hand pull her forcefully back into the classroom. So she did what came naturally, and screamed.  
  
  
"SERENA!! Shhh!!!" Serena felt a hand covering over her mouth. "It's me! Amy!" Serena wasn't sure if that was the sorta thing she should stop screaming over given her current persona non grata status in the scouts... but then, what else could she do in this situation?  
"Amy?" Or at least it would have been - instead it came out as 'amfey'.  
"Serena, I don't know what's going on with the other scouts... I think they've all gone insane... I scanned them for dark energy, but, but there's nothing... No signs of mindcontrol or anything." Serena had never heard Amy sound so, but she doubted Amy would give up the security of the 'in' scouts to help her... If anything this was just an expression of neutrality - a I-was-always-on-yourside-if-you-win kinda thing... but then Mercury had never understood loyalty... never really understood what it was to defend anything - after all, her star seed was from a barren planet that never had and probably never would support life. Mercury never coveted power... she just always sought personal security... it was so different from 'Amy' who had devoted her life to becoming a doctor. Usagi realized for the first time, fukus aside, she was talking to Mercury and not Amy... she couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Amy when Mercury finally took over.  
Serena turned to look at Amy as she was released, she couldn't stop a single tear rolling down her cheek and wiped it away callously. Serena patted Amy in a consolatory way twice on the shoulder "Look after yourself... Amy."  
  
  
FINALLY!!! Eudial couldn't believe her luck as the target walked solemnly across the practically deserted schoolyard. Cursing as she spilled hot coffee, she backed the station wagon up, accidentally hitting a parking meter. Maybe one of these days she would get around to actually taking some lessons and getting a drivers license, but that wasn't important right now. She jumped out of the car and went to the boot to release the daimon. From past experience Eudial had learnt it was better to have the Diamon out and ready before attacking... it saved time and cut down on personal injury.   
"Enpitsu!!!!!" Screeched the Daimon, jumping from its confinement in the box-thing. It paused to stretch a few times before turning askance to Eudial.  
"Get that girl and hold her while I..."  
"Excuse me?"  
"Huh?" Eudial turned to look at the boy who had interrupted her. "Who're you?"  
"Kaoru." Diamando lied, knowing that's what the girls in the manga club had taken to calling him... personally he couldn't see the resemblance between himself and the angel... but he might have been even more embarrassed if he knew how many of those drawings he'd posed for had mysteriously had their clothes erased later. "You're not going to hurt Serena are you?"  
"I'm not going to hurt Serena." Eudial replied, looking deep into his eyes. She wondered why she wasn't going to on some conscious level, but didn't believe for a second that she was.  
"Good." Diamando smiled.  
Eudial smiled.  
Diamando walked the hundred or so meters to where a worried looking Serena was pacing, they exchanged greetings and a now very relieved looking Serena and Diamondo headed to the arcade.  
Eudial stood thoughtfully for a while, her head tilted slightly in thought. "Enpitsu?" Then she got in the driver seat and thought some more. "Enpitsu?" Enpitsu tried unsuccessfully to get in the passenger seat of the vehicle, but due to two large pencils fixed to her shoulder blades failed miserably. She settled for lounging on the roof as the sun slowly set behind Juuban-high.  
"Now that was interesting." Sailor Uranus commented to Sailor Neptune from their lookout on the schools roof.  
"Indeed."   
Enpitsu was too engaged in watching a couple of girls in a yelling match while too more girls and an older boy looked on to notice the outer-senshi give up their vigil to pursue the target.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
"Er... Usagi?"  
"Yeah?"  
"That weird guy that was hassling you at the arcade is following us."  
"Yeah, I know... I don't think he'll bother me withyou here." 'Yeah right... because he knows if he or any of the other scouts so much as lay a finger on anyone i know I'll have the cops all over 'em.'   
"I could.... you know... have a word with him if you don't want him bothering you anymore..." Diamando left the question hanging.  
"No way! Absolutely not... I don't want you getting hurt!" Or worse she thought solemnly. "Besides, I can look after myself, and if he keeps it up, I'll get my Dad to call the police." She knew he'd do it too... had practically seen his fingers itch toward the phone every time Mamoru had shown up when he and Usagi had been dating.  
"You're right... it's not like he can keep this up forever..." Usagi groaned inwardly at the 'forever' part but kept her usual happy countenance on display. "But Serena? If you need anyone to walk you home or anything after school, just ask, okay?" Ack!! There it was again! That protectiveness...Sure, he had a little in common with the girl, sure he was attracted to her (who wouldn't be? she was quite pretty after all... and fun to be with), but he couldn't understand these feelings at all...  
"Thanks Di-chan!" That was exactly what Usagi had hoped for... in a non-pushy kinda way of course... she would never have asked for hi help, involved him in this mess, but after all, he had volunteered... "You're a great friend!"  
He'd been a colleage, an associate, a social accoutrement, but Diamando didn't think he'd ever been a friend before... maybe thats what this new emotion was. He was pretty sure he had loved Neo-Queen Serenity... and this felt similar to that... friendship and love were related, so that had to be it. If this Darien guy kept hassling Serena he'd find out just how much Diamando valued his friends.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
"I don't like that guy Micheru..."  
'You never like guys Haruka.' "He hasn't done anything to Usagi..."  
"But he could... did you see how easy he took out Eudial?"  
"Eudial's only human... and she hadn't ordered the Daimon to defend her... I think he just lucked out!"  
"..."  
"Hypnotism. It had to be... we've seen it before..."  
"..." *pout*  
*Sigh* "But I see you're point... he *could* be a 'bad guy'... we have to watch Usagi anyway so it should be pretty easy to keep an eye on him."  
Haruka visibly brightened... before frowning. "Its not like I *want* to watch a guy Micheru..."  
"Haruka...? DO you think we should have just left that Daimon in the school carpark?"  
"...!"  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Mrs Haruna, voted least likely to be voted teacher of the year, walked toward the faculty carpark after releasing the detentionees. Th eusually polite Makoto had stared daggers the whole hours, and Minako had, ironically enough, spent the time sleeping. She noticed an unusual white station wagon in the carpark, noticing a comical figure perched on the roof bearing pencils she presumed it must be delivering stationary. But being a naturally suspicious sort of person sh ewalked over to take down the number plate, aking a notepad and pencil from her bad she started to write down the number.  
"Enpitsu?" Suprised by the sound, Haruna accidently scrawled the number wrong. She looked around but could see no one. Reaching into her bag again, she produced an eraser.  
"ENPITSU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 


End file.
